30 booked with sex crimes during NBA All-Star weekend, and other crime news

30 booked with sex crimes during NBA All-Star weekend, and other crime news

Police seek two men in Lakeview burglary

New Orleans police are searching for the men responsible for a Lakeview home burglary Thursday afternoon.

The victim told police she left her home in the 6800 block of Louis XIV Street about 12:45 p.m. She returned about 4:45 p.m. and found that her door, which she had locked, had been kicked in. Several items were stolen, including guns, police said.

Police said two black men were seen in a white Hyundai SUV near the home when the burglary is believed to have happened.

One man, who wore a yellow or orange cap, walked away from the home after the burglary and got back into the SUV.

Anyone with information about the men or the burglary is asked to contact 3rd District detectives at (504) 658-6030 or Crime Stoppers at (504) 822-1111.

Authorities book 30 on sex-crime charges

Thirty people were arrested on various sex-crime charges and one juvenile sex-trafficking victim was rescued during the NBA All-Star Game weekend as a result of a multiple-agency law enforcement operation, authorities said.

Twenty-two women and four men were taken into custody on charges related to prostitution, State Police said.

The women, who traveled to New Orleans from states including California, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas, came to the city for the sole purpose of committing sex crimes during the All-Star Game weekend, State Police said.

Investigators also arrested four men suspected of trying to solicit sexual encounters with juveniles through the Internet. Those men were booked with computer-aided solicitation of a minor.

Authorities did not immediately identify any of those arrested.

Agencies involved in the operation were the FBI’s Violent Crimes Against Children Unit, New Orleans FBI Field Office, Houston FBI Field Office, Louisiana State Police, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Jogger spots body in Orleans Avenue Canal

Authorities are trying to determine the cause of death of a man whose body was found Friday afternoon in the Orleans Avenue Canal.

A jogger spotted the unidentified body about 4:30 p.m. in the water near Robert E. Lee Boulevard and Marconi Drive in Lake Vista, said Officer Garry Flot, a New Orleans Police Department spokesman.

The Coroner’s Office did not find any obvious signs of trauma to the body. An autopsy to determine the cause of death is pending.